■  ■ '    1 


FUNERAL  SERVICES 


AT    I'llK   I :  I  r  R I A  I .  OF  THK 


RIGHT  REV.  'LEONIDAS  POLK. 


D.D. 


TOGETHER  WITH  THE  SERMON 


DKUVKREI) 


IN  ST    PAUL'S  CHURCH,  AUGUSTA, 


\,  GA  , 


ON  JUNE  29,   18G4: 

BEING  THE  FEAST  OF  ST.  PETER  THE  APOSTLE. 

They  that,  snw  hi  tears,  shall  reap  in  joy. — Psalm  cxxvi,  6, 

* 

COLUMBIA,  8.  0. 

PRINTED  BY  EVANS  &  COGSWELL. 

1 864. 

FUNERAL  SERVICES 


AT   mi:    BURIAL    OF    TICK 


RIGHT  REV.  LEONIDAS  POLK,  D.D. 


TOGETHER  WITH  THE  SERMON 


DF.LIVKRED 


IN  ST.  PAUL'S  CHURCH,  AUGUSTA,  GA. 


ON  JUNE  29,  1864 : 


BEING  THE  FEAST  OF  ST.  PETER  THE  APOSTLE. 


They  that  sow  in  tears,  shall  reap  in  joy. — Paajuj  cxxvi,  fi. 


COLUMBIA,  S.  C. 

PRINTED  BY  EVANS  &  COGSWELL. 

1864. 


?:■ 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


To  the  Right  Reverend  Stephen  Elliott,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Georgia, 
and  Presiding  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  Confederate 
States. 

The  undersigned,  in  behalf  of  the  Church,  and  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  who 
mourn  together  over  their  sore  bereavement,  respectfully  request,  for  publication,  a 
copy  of  the  address  delivered  this  day  at  the  funeral  of  their  lamented  Father  and 
Brother,  Lbonidas  Polk. 

The  intimacy  of  your  relations  with  this  venerable  man  has  well  qualified  you 
to  delineate  a  character  of  peculiar  virtues  and  a  life  of  unusual  incident. 

It  is  but  justice  to  the  departed  that  his  countrymen  should  have  the  benefit  of 
the  masterly  and  appreciative  tribute  you  have  paid  to  his  memory. 
W.  M.  GREEN,  Bishop  of  Mississippi. 
HENRY  C.  LAY,  Bishop  of  Arkansas. 
J.  LONGSTREET,  Lieutenant- General,  Army  of  Virginia. 
JOSIAH    TATNALL,    C.    S.   N.,    Commanding    Naval    Station, 

Savannah,  Georgia. 
GEORGE  W.  RAINS,  Colonel  Commanding  Post,  Augusta,  Ga. 
Col.  W.  D.  GALE,  Staff  of  General  Polk. 
Maj.  F.  H.  McNAIRY,  Staff  of  General  Polk. 
Maj.  THOS.  PETERS,  Staff  of  General  Polk. 
Col.  II.  C.  YEATMAN,  Staff  of  General  Polk. 
C.  T.  QUINTARD,  Chaplain  attached  to  General  PoWs  Staff. 
M.  H.  HENDERSON,  Rector  of  Emmanuel  Church,  Athens,  Ga. 
CAMERON  F.  MeRAE,  Rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  Savannah. 
WM,  H,  CLARKE,  Rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Augusta. 
W.  II.  HARRISON,  Rector  Church  of  the  Atonement,  Augusta. 
W.  W.  LORD,-  Rector  of  Christ  Church,  Vicksburg,  Mississippi. 
SAM'L  G.  PINKERTON,  Chaplain,  Atlanta,  Georgia. 
THOS.  J.  BEARD,  Missionary  to  Army  of  Tennessee,  Diocese  of 

Alabama. 
JOHN  NEELY,  Augusta,  Diocese  of  Georgia. 
JOHN  H.  CORNISH,  Rector  of  St.  Thaddmus'  Church,  Aiken, 

South  Carolina. 
GEORGE  W.  STICKNEY,  Chaplain  of  the  Post,  Columbus,  Ga., 
Presbyter  of  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana. 


To  the  Right  Reverend  the  Bishops  of  Mississippi  and  Arkansas,  Gen.  Longstref.t, 
Com.  Tatnall,  Col.  Rains,  and  others,  assembled  at  the  Funeral  Services  of 
Right  Reverend  Leonidas  Polk,  D.D. 

Gentlemen:  I  have  received  your  request  that  I  would  furnish,  for  publica- 
tion, a  copy  of  the  address  delivered  over  the  remains  of  my  beloved  friend,  the 
Right  Reverend  Leonidas  Polk,  D.D.,  late  Bishop  of  Louisiana. 

I  herewith  send  a  copy  of  the  address,  sincerely  wishing  that  it  was  better  worthy 
of  his  illustrious  memory.     It  is  the  tribute  of  one  who  loved  him  as  a  brother. 

Very  truly  and  respeotfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

STEPHEN  ELLIOTT. 
Augusta,  Georgia,  July  1,  18fi4. 


COLLECT  FOR  FOURTH  SUNDAY  AFTER  TRINITY. 


O  God,  the  Protector  of  all  that  trust  in  Thee,  without 
whom  nothing  is  strong,  nothing  is  holy:  Increase  and 
multiply  upon  us  Thy  mercy ;  that  Thou,  being  our  ruler 
and  guide,  we  may  so  pass  through  things  temporal,  that 
we  finally  lose  not  the  things  eternal.  Grant  this,  O  heav- 
enly Father,  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake  our  Lord.    Amen. 


OCCASION   Ol-1  HIS  DEATH. 


On  Tuesday  morning,  June  14th,  General  .Johnston, 
Lieutenant-Generals  Polk  and  Hardee,  and  Brigadier  Gen- 
eral W.  H.  Jackson,  accompanied  by  members  of  their  re- 
spective staffs,  visited  Pine  mountain,  an  elevated  position 
lying  beyond  the  Confederate  lines,  and  some  six  miles  from 
the  Town  of  Marietta,  for  the  purpose. of  making  a  military 
reconnoissance.  Leaving  their  escorts  and  horses  behind 
the  hill,  they  proceeded  to  the  top  on  foot.  Their  obser- 
vations having  been  completed,  they  were  about  to  return, 
when  a  shot  from  a  Federal  battery,  striking  the  ground  a 
short  distance  in  front  of  their  position,  warned  them  that 
their  presence  had  been  discovered  by  the  enemy.  The 
group  at  once  separated  :  Generals  Johnston  and  "Polk  pass- 
ing along  the  brow  of  the  hill,  still  farther  to  the  left,  while 
the  other  officers  withdrew  toward  the  right  and  rear.  Af- 
ter finishing  their  survey  in  that  direction  the  two  parted — 
the  former  moving  around  the  hill  to  rejoin  his  escort,  and 
the  latter  leisurely  retracing  his  course  across  the  summit. 
LTpon  reaching  a  commanding  point  he  paused  for  a  mo- 
ment, either  tomake  a  final  examination, of  the  scene  before 
him,  or,  as  *is  more  probable,  to  spend  a  short  interval  in 
silent  communion  with  his  God. 

As  he  stood  thus  occupied,  his  arms  folded  upon  his 
breast,  and  his  face  wearing  the  composed  and  reverent 
look  of  an  humble  and  trusting  worshipper,  a  second  shot 
was  heard,  and  the  cry  arose  that  General  Polk  had  fallen. 
Colonels  Jack  and  Gale,  members  of  his  staff,  at  once  re- 
turned to  the  spot,  but  life  was  already  extinct.  His  body, 
badly  torn,  was  lying  upon  the  ground  at  full  length,  with 
the  face  upturned,  and  retaining  its  last  expression  of  pray- 


6 

erful  faith,  and  the  arms,  though  broken,  still  crossed  upon 
the  breast. 

The  enemy's  battery  was  by  this  time  shelling  the  hill 
with  great  rapidity  and  precision,  and  the  remains  were 
borne  to  a  place  of  safety  in  the  rear  under  a  heavy  fire. 

In  the  left  pocket  of  his  coat  was  found  his  Book  of 
Common-Prayer,  and  in  the  right  four  copies  of  a  little 
manual  entitled  "  Balm  for  the  Weary  and  Wounded." 
Upon  the  fly-leaf  of  three  of  these  had  been  written  the 
names  respectively  of  "  General  Jos.  E.  Johnston,"  "Lieu- 
tenant-General Hardee,"  "Lieutenant-General  Hood," 
"with  the  compliments  of  Lieutenant-General  Leonidas 
Polk,  June  12th,  1864."  Upon  that  of  the  fourth  was  in- 
scribed his  own  name.     All  were  saturated  with  his  blood. 

The  General-in-Chief  at  once  made  known  the  great  loss 
which  his  army  had  sustained,  in  the  following  order : 

"  Head-quarters  Army  of  Tennessee,  1 
In  the  Field,  June  14,  1864.      ] 

"  General  Field  Orders,  No.  2.] 

"  Comrades  !  You  are  called  to  mourn  your  first  captain, 
your  oldest  companion-in-arms.  Lieutenant-General  Polk 
fell  to-day  at  the  outpost  of  this  army — the  army  he  raised 
and  commanded — in  all  of  whose  trials  he  has  shared — to 
all  of  whose  victories  he  contributed. 

"  In  this  distinguished  leader  we  have  lost  the  most  cour- 
teous of  gentlemen,  the  most  gallant  of  soldiers. 

"  The  christian,  patriot,  soldier,  has  neither  lived  nor  died 
in  vain.  His  example  is  before  you — his  mantle  rests  with 
you.  J.  E.  JOHNSTON",  General. 

"Official:  Kinloch  Falconer,  A.  A.  G." 

The  members  of  his  military  staff  not  feeling  at  liberty 
to  determine  upou  the  place  of  his  interment  without  con- 
sultation with  his  family  and  friends,  sent  telegraphic  de- 
spatches to  his  eldest  son,  then  in  Montgomery,  Ala.,  and 
to  Bisliop  Elliott,  at  Savannah,  to  meet  the  body  at  Augus- 
ta, as  it  was  their  intention  to  proceed  with  it  to  that  point. 


On  reaching  Atlanta  the  body  was  received  by  a  com- 
mittee appointed  for  the  purpose  by  the  Mayor  of  the  city, 
and  taken  directly  to  St.  Luke's  Church.  It  continued 
lying  in  state  for  several  hours,  and  then,  after  appropriate 
religious  services  and  an  impressive  eulogy  pronounced  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Quiutard,  Rector  of  the  Church  and  Chaplain 
attached  to  the  staff  of  General  Polk,  was  conveyed  to  the 
depot  under  a  proper  military  escort,  attended  by  a  large 
concourse  of  sympathizing  citizens. 

A  car  having  been  provided  expressly  for  their  use,  the 
immediate  attendants  proceeded  with  it  to  Augusta,  and 
upon  their  arrival,  early  the  following  morning,  were  met 
by  the  Rectors,  Wardens,  and  Vestrymen  of  St.  Paul's 
Church  and  the  Church  of  the  Atonement.  The  remains 
were  reverently  conveyed  to  St.  Paul's  Church,  where  a 
guard  of  honor  had  been  stationed  to  receive  them  by  the 
Commandant  of  the  Post. 

Upon  consultation  at  Augusta  with  such  members  of 
General  Polk's  family  as  could  be  gathered  at  the  spot,  and 
with  Bishop  Elliott,  it  was  decided  to  be  most  appropriate 
to  commit  his  remains  to  the  keeping  of  the  Diocese  of 
Georgia,  whose  Bishop  had  now  become  the  Senior  Bishop 
of  the  Church  in  the  Confederate  States,  until  the  Church  of 
Louisiana^should  claim  them  as  her  rightful  inheritance. 
The  following  invitation  was  accordingly  issued : 

"  The  Bishops,  Clergy,  and  Laity  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the  Confederate  States,  the  officers  of  the 
Army  and  Navy  of  the  Confederate  States,  and  the  citizens 
generally,  are  invited  to  attend  the  funeral  services  of  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Leonidas  Polk,  D.D.,  from  the  City  Hall  of  Au- 
gusta, Georgia,  on  Wednesday,  the  29th  of  June.  The 
procession  will  move  from  the  City  Hall  to  St.  Paul's 
Church.  His  remains  will  be  deposited  in  the  church-yard 
of  St.  Paul's  until  the  war  closes. 

"  Stephen  Elliott, 
11  Senior  Bp.  of  Prot.  Epis.  Ch.  in  C.  S.  A." 

After  remaining  two  days  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  the  body, 


by  the  direction  of  Col.  G-eo.  W.  liains,  commanding  the 
Post,  was  enclosed  in  a  leaden  coffin  and  placed  in  an 
apartment  of  the  City  Hall  tendered  for  the  purpose  by  the 
city  authorities,  where  it  was  left  under  a  proper  guard  un- 
til the  morning  of  June  29th. 


m 


FUNERAL    SOLEMNITIES. 


Upon  the  day  appointed — being,  by  a  happy  coincidence, 
the  Feast  of  St.  Peter  the  Apostle — the  local  military  force 
of  Augusta,  consisting  of  one  full  regiment  of  infantry,  a 
battery  of  light  artillery,  and  a  company  of  cavalry,  was 
drawn  up  on  Telfair  st,  in  the  rear  of  the  City  Hall,  at  half- 
past  nine  o'clock,  a.  m.  The  case  enclosing  the  remains 
was  brought  and  placed  within  the  hearse  by  soldiers  de- 
tailed for  the  purpose.  The  hearse  was  draped  in  the  flag 
of  the  Confederate  States,  with  its  broad  folds  of  white  and  its 
starry  cross  of  Trust  and  Truth  upon  a  field  of  blood,  and 
surmounted  with  wreaths  of  bay  and  laurel,  and  a  cross 
of  evergreen  and  snow-white  flowers. 

The  military  escort,  under  Major  I.  P.  Girardey,  headed 
by  the  Palmetto  Band,  began  its  solemn  march,  the  Colonel 
commanding  the  Post  and  His  Honor  the  Mayor  of  the  city 
on  horseback,  immediately  preceding  the  hearse.  Wardens 
and  Vestrymen,  representing  St.  Paul's  Church,  Augusta, 
St.  John's,  Savannah,  and  the  Church  of  the  Atonement, ' 
Augusta,  accompanied  the  remains  on  either  side  as  pall- 
bearers. After  them,  under  the  direction  of  Captain  C.  A. 
Piatt,  the  remainder  of  th<e  funeral  cortege  was  arranged  in 
the  following  order  : 

The  Military  Family  of  General  Polk,  with  the  Clergy  and 

Citizens  of  Louisiana. 

The  Reverend  Clergy. 

Officers  of  the  Army  and  Navy. 

Members  of  the  City  Council. 

Civil  Officers  of  the  Confederate  Government. 

Members  of  the  Medical  and  Legal  Professions. 

Other  Citizens. 


10 

While  the  imposing  procession  was  passing  along  the 
principal  streets  of  the  city,  houses  and  balconies  and  walks 
were  thronged  with  multitudes  who  had  come  out  to  pay 
the  respects  of  loving  homage  to  the  departed  Christian 
soldier.  All  places  of  business  were  closed.  T^he  band 
played  appropriate  dirges,  and  the  bell  of  St.  Paul's  Church 
was  tolled  at  intervals.  As  it  came  down  Reynolds  street,, 
approaching  the  church,  the  Bishops  of  Georgia,  Mississip- 
pi, and  Arkansas,  in  their  robes,  attended  by  a  company  of 
surpliced  Priests,  moved  from  the  vestry-room,  and  took 
their  station  in  front  of  the  church  near  the  entrance-gate, 
while  the  company  of  Silver  Greys  was  detached  from  the 
regiment  and  drawn  up  on  either  side  of  the  avenue  as  a 
special  guard  of  honor. 

The  Bishops  and  Clergy  having  met  .the  corpse,  went  be- 
fore it  into  the  church,  the  Senior  Bishop  repeating  the 
words,  "  I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life,  saith  the 
Lord,"  etc. 

•  The  three  Bishops,  with  the  Rector  of  St.  Paul's,  entered 
the  chancel,  while  the  attendant  Priests  occupied  places  as- 
signed them  on  either  side  without  the  rail.  The  anthem, 
"Lord  let  me  know  my  end,"  was  chanted  by  the  choir, 
with  a  solemn  and  effective  accompaniment  upon  the 
organ. 

The  Bishop  of  Arkansas  read  the  Lesson ;  after  which 
the  choir  and  congregation  united  in  singing  the  first  three 
stanzas  of  the  familiar  hymn,  "  I  would  not  live  alway." 

The  Senior  Bishop  then  delivered,  in  the  presence  of  a 
vast  assemblage  gathered  within  and  around  the  church, 
the 


FUNERAL  ADDRESS. 


St.  John's  Gospel,   chapter  xi,  verse  28. —  The  Master  is 
come  and  callethfor  thee. 

God  hath  made  everything  beautiful  in  his  time,  and 
nothing  is  more  beautiful  than  Death,  when  it  comes  to 
one  who  has  faithfully  fulfilled  all  the  duties  of  life,  and  is 
ready  for  its  summons.  To  such  an  one  the  solemn  mes- 
sage, "The  Master  is  come  and  calleth  for  thee,"  has  no 
terrors.  It  is  but  the  long-expected  announcement  of  rest — 
but  the  long-desired  ending  of  the  toil  of  life.  The  battle 
has  been  fought,  the  victory  won,  and  the  war-worn  veteran 
is  heralded  by  his  vanquished  enemy  to  his  crown  of  right- 
eousness. 

;.;  And  it  makes  no  matter  to  the  faithful  servant  under 
what  shape  that  summons  comes.  In  the  history  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  the  death  of  its  most  illustrious  saints  has 
taken  the  revolting  form  of  violence.  Some  have  gone  to 
glory  imitating  Christ  in  the  shame  and  agony  of  the  Cross. 
Others  have  ascended  to  the  gates  of  Paradise  in  chariots 
of  fire.  The  spirit  of  the  Martyr  Stephen  passed  away  amid 
the  curses  of  an  infuriated  mob ;  and  the  gentle  James  was 
smitten  with  the  sword  of  ruthless  tyranny.  Why,  then, 
stand  appalled  that,  in  these  latter  days,  our  brother  should 
have  died  by  the  hand  of  violence?  Has  human  nature 
changed?  Has  fanaticism- learned  any  mercy  ?  Does  the 
fire  which  is  lighted  from  hell  ever  cease  its  fury  against 
the  children  of  the  Most  High?  We  have  been  plainly  told 
in  Holy  Writ  that,  in  the  latter  days,  perilous  times  should 
come,  and  come  they  have  to  us.  Instead  of  being  appalled, 
Bishops  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  let  us  rather  prepare  for 
what  may  be  our  own  future  fate!     Do  ye  not  hear  the 


voices  of  your  own  brethren,  Ministers  and  Bishops,  hound- 
ing on  these  hordes  of  lawless  men  to  the  desolation  of  our 
homes,  our  altars,  our  families,  ourselves  ?  The  body  which 
lies  before  us  is  the  last,  but  not  the  only  one,  of  our  mar- 
tyred Bishops.  The  heart  of  the  gentle,  loving  Cobbs  was 
broken  by  the  vision  of  coming  evil  which  he  foresaw.  The 
lion-hearted  Meade  died  just  when  the  hand  of  destruction 
was  laid  upon  his  quiet  home,  .and  its  sacred  associations 
were  scattered  to  the  winds.  Otey,  the  high-souled,  -the 
honest-hearted,  the  guileless,  expired  a  prisoner  in  his  own 
home,  his  closing  eyes  looking  upon  a  desolated  diocese,  a 
scattered  and  ruined  people,  an  exiled  ministry — all  the  work 
of  his  life  in  ruins.  The  mangled  corpse  of  our  beloved 
brother  closes,  for  the  present,  the  succession  of  our  Episco- 
pal martyrs,  AVho  shall  come  next?  I,  in  the  proper  order 
of  succession..  God's  will  be  done.  My  only  prayer  is, 
that,  if  He  sees  necessary,  I  may  die  in  defence  of  >the  same 
holy  cause,  and  with  the  like  faith  and  courage. 

Our  brother  fills  the  grave  of  a  Christian  warrior  !  Al- 
though a  minister  of  the  Prince  of  peace  and  a  Bishop  in  the 
Church  of  God,  he  has  poured  out  his  life-blood  for  us  upon 
the  field  of  battle.  Some,  even  of  those  for  whom  this 
precious  blood  is  shed,  have  cavilled  at  it.  Many,  even  of 
those  who  are  stirring  up  this  hellish  warfare,  have  found  a 
mote  in  their  brother's  eye.  As  he  has  given  his  life  for 
us,  our  duty  is  not  only  to  honor  his  ashes,  but  to  place  his 
noble'life,  and  still  nobler  death,  beyond  the  reach  of  hu- 
man calumny.  His  judgment  is  with  his  Grod,  whom  he 
loved  so  earnestly,  whom  he  served  so  faithfully.  His 
Master  has  come  and  called  for  him,  and  with  him  we  leave 
his  cause  gladly,  joyfully,  in.  unswerving  confidence. 

That  we  may  form  a  just  estimate  of  a  man's  life,  we 
must  keep  with  us  the  great  principle  which  is  its  pervading 
influence;  and  we  must  consider  it  in  connection  with  the 
uatural  temperament  of  the  individual  whose  life  we  are 
examining.  The  sun  does  not  change  by  his  beams  the 
outlines  of  the  landscape  upon  which  he  shines.  They  re- 
main ever  the  same,  stern  or  soft,  rugged  or  gentle^as  they 


Ai.j 


came  from  the  hand  of  their  Creator.  The  sun  only  bathes 
this  natural  arrangement  in  its  flood  of  light,  and  clothes  it 
with  its  robes  of  purple  and  of  gold.  And  so  with  divine 
grace.  It  does  not  alter  the  great  characteristics  of  a  man's 
natural  temperament.  It  only  softens  it,  and  illumines  it, 
and  makes  it  glorious  to  all  who  look  upon  it,  and  fills  it 
with  the  fulness  of  God's  divine  spirit.  St.  Peter  was  by 
nature  bold,  impetuous,  full  of  ardor  and  devotion,  and  in 
him  the  spirit  of  Christ  found  materials  for  a  grandeur  ot 
design  and  a  high-souled  energy  which  made  him  foremost 
in  all  the  acts  which  illustrated  the  earth-life  of  our  Saviour 
and  the  annals  of  the  Apostolic  Church.  Is  any  one 
inclined  to  disparage  Peter  because  he  was  not  the  same 
gentle,  loving  spirit  as  John,  or  to  quarrel  with  him  because 
his  fervent  temper. and  burning  zeal  made  him  sometimes 
liable  to  rebuke?  God  raises  up  instruments  in  his  Church 
for  his  own  purposes,  and  moulds  them  according  to  his 
own  predetermined  counsels. 

A  man  can  not  be  ardent,  uncompromising,  single-minded, 
full  of  a  grand  ideal  of  religion,  without  being  a  mark  for 
the  criticism  of  the  Church  as  well  as  of  the  world.  Such 
men  have  been  filled  with  a  divine  afflatus  of  which  lookers- 
on  know  nothing.  They  seem,  in  the  fulness  of  their  zeal 
and  ardor,  to  be  carried  away  by  a  spirit  which  is  mistaken 
for  the  spirit  of  the  world.  It  is  not  indeed  the  spirit  of  the 
world ;  it  is  only  that  they  are  fighting  the  world, with  the 
world's  own  fearlessness.  "The  children  of  this  world," 
said  our  Saviour,  "are  wiser  in  their  generation  than  the 
children  of  light."  Such  men  as  these — men  specially  raised 
up — do  not  permit  the  children  of  this  world  to  assume'this 
superiority.  They  meet  them  face  to  face — use » different 
weapon*,  't  is  true,  but  use  them  alike — hurl  at  their  adver- 
saries the  armor  of  the  Lord,  in  the  like  spirit  of  zeal  in 
which  the  armor  of  the  world  is  hurled  against  them ;  and 
God  means  them  to  do  it.  There  are  times  and  occasions 
when  such  a  spirit  is  not  only  right,  but  glorious,  in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord.  Look  at  our  Saviour  himself,  when  he 
lashed  from  the  temple  those  who  were  dishonoring   his 


14 

Father's  house  !  See  him  raging,  like  a  man  of  war,  among 
the  money-changers  and  the  hucksterers,  overturning  their 
tables,  and  casting  out  their  merchandise  !  Hear  that  same 
Saviour  when  he  burst  forth  in  indignation  against  the 
Scribes1  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites,  using  such  language  as  a 
weak  Christianity  would  now  find  fault  with.  "Ye  serpents, 
ye  generation  of  vipers,  how  can  ye  escape  the  damnation 
of  Hell  ?"  Hear  St.  Stephen,  when  he  stood  in  the  midst  of 
the  infuriated  multitude  and  said:  "Ye  stiff-necked  and 
uncircumcised  in  heart  and  ears,  ye  do  always  resist  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  as  your  fathers  did,  so  do  ye.  Which  of  the 
prophets  have  not  your  fathers  persecuted?  And  they  have 
slain  them  which  showed  before  of  the  coming  of  the  Just 
one ;  of~whom  ye  have  been  now  the  betrayers  and  murder- 
ers." Hear  St.  Paul,  when  he  was  withstood  by  Elymas 
the  sorcerer:  "  O  full  of  all  subtilty  and  all  mischief,  thou 
child  of  the  devil,  thou  enemy  of  all  righteousness,  wilt 
thou  not  cease  to  pervert  the  right  ways  of  the  Lord?" 
Recalling  instances  like  these,  tell  me  if  you  can  not  per- 
ceive, mingled  with  the  grace  and  the  love  of  the  Gospel,  a 
spirit  of  fiery  indignation,  rising  and  swelling  in  the  bosoms 
of  the  Apostles,  and  Martyrs,  and  Saints,  and  even  of  our 
Lord  himself,  which  should  make  us  careful  how  we  judge 
and  condemn  our  brethren  who  may  differ  from  us  in  spirit 
and  in  action.  God  raises  up  his  own  servants  for  his  own 
use ;  elects  them,  calls  them,  prepares  them,  places  them 
where  they  shall  be  ready  for  action,  and  in  due  time  gives 
them  their  work  to  do.  It  rises  up  so  plainly  before  them, 
that  they  can  not  avoid  it.  It  sweeps  up  to  their  feet ;  it 
involves  them  in  its  current.  They  ofttimes  struggle  against 
it,  but  it  overpowers  them  by  its  irresistible  circumstances, 
until  at- last  they  find  themselves  mere  instruments  in  God's 
hancls,  doing  His  will,  driven  on  by  His  spirit,  supported  by 
His  strength,  dying  as  Ilis  martyrs !  Let  us  apply  these 
piinciples  to  the  life  and  conduct  of  him  whose  murdered 
body  now  lies  before  us. 

In  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty-six  we  find, 
in  the  military  school  of  the  United  States,  a  young  man 


H 

of  heroic  lineage,  with  the  fiery  blood  of  the  Revolution 
coursing  in  his  veins,  of  independent  fortune,  of  chivalric 
tone,  of  high  and  noble  impulses,  preparing  himself  for 
the  service  of  his  country.  He  had  every  qualification  to 
ensure  him  success  as  a  military  man ;  every  prerequisite 
for  carrying  him  up  to  lofty  reputation.  No  one  doubts, 
for  a  moment,  that  had  he  followed  the  beck  of  ambi- 
tion, lie  might  have  risen,  as  a  soldier,  to  the  very  proud- 
est rank  in  the  army  of  the  Union.  His  most  fastidious 
critic  has  never  doubted  that  he  had  military  traits  in  his 
character  of  the  very  highest  order.  If  personal  courage, 
comprehensive  views,  quick  perception,  rapid  combination, 
prompt  decision,  great  administrative  capacity,  with  the 
faculty  of  commanding  men,  and  at  the  same  time  of  at- 
taching them  to  him,  are  the  qualities  wThich  make  a  great 
military  leader,  then  we,  who  knew  him  best  and  have 
longest  acted  with  him,  can  bear  our  testimony  to  his  pos- 
session of  these  qualities  in  a  most  eminent  degree.  They 
were  his  characteristics  in  everything  he  did — the  qualities 
which  have  made  him  illustrious  in  every  phase  of  his  life. 
Upon  this  young  man,  thus  preparing  for  the  service  of  the 
world,  Christ  laid  the  touch  of  His  divine  spirit,  and  trans- 
formed him  into  a  soldier  of  the  Cross,  He  had  work  for 
him  to  do  in  his  Church.  He  had  use  for  those  very  quali- 
ties which  would  have  fitted  Jbim  for  a  glorious  service  of  the 
world.  The  Church  needed  a  bold  and  fearless  man,  full  of 
youth  and  nerve,  to  plunge  into  the  great  wilderness  of  the 
Southwest,  teeming,  as  it  then  was,  with  the  young  and  vig- 
orous life  of  the  republic,  swelling  and'  surging  under  the 
rushing  tide  of  emigration,  and  consecrate  it  to  her  service  ; 
and  she  found  that  champion  in  this  youth  of  military  train- 
ing. The  Church  needed  a  man  of  high  social  position,  with 
the  carriage  and  manners  of  a  gentleman,  with  the  courtesy 
and  grace  of  a  well-bred  Christian,  to  commend  her  to  the 
consideration  of  men  of  hereditary  wealth,  of  great  refine- 
ment, of  cultivated  accomplishments.  For  in  the  vast 
country  over  which  he  was  appointed  to  establish  the  Church, 
extremes  were  meeting — extremes  of  established  position, 


p 

and  of  struggle  for  position— of  old  settled  landholders  and 
of  needy  adventurers — of  men  with  all  the  polish  of  foreign 
refinement,  and  of  men  with  all  the  strength  of  unpolished 
intelligence.  The  Bishop  who  should  go  forth  to  conquer 
that  country  for  the  Church  must  possess  manners  as  well 
as  energy — cultivation  as  well  as  Christian  courage — and 
the  Church  found  such  a  combination  in  this  young  soldier, 
who  had  been  snatched  from  the  flatteries  of  the  world. 
The  Church  needed  a  large  slaveholder,  who  might  speak 
boldly  and  fearlessly  to  his  peers,  as  being  one  of  themselves, 
about  their  duty  to  their  slaves,  and  might  teach  them,  by 
his  living  example,  what  that  duty  was,  and  how  to  fulfil  it ; 
and  she  found  it  in  this  young  disciple.  He  combined  in 
himself  just  the  natural  qualities  and  the  accidental  cir- 
cumstances which  fitted  him  for  the  work  to  which  he  was 
called;  and  when  these  had  been  sanctified  by  the  Spirit 
of  Christ,  and  constraint  wa;s  laid  upon  him  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  he  went  forth  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
the  earnest  fulfilment  of  his  bishopric.  And  who  shall 
dare  to  say  that  the  forekn-owledge  and  election  of  the 
Head  of  the  Church  ended  at  this  point?  .  Who  shall  pre- 
sume to  say  that  Christ  did  not  prepare  this  gloriou3  ser- 
vant for  the  final  work  of  his  life?  It  all  depends  upon 
the  stand-point  from  which  we  view  this  conflict.  If  we 
consider  it  a  mere  struggle  for  political  power,  a  question  o£ 
sovereignty  and  of  dominion,  then  should  I  be  loath  to 
mingle  the  Church  of  Christ  with  it  in  any  form  or  manner. 
But  such  is  not  the  nature  of  this  conflict.  It  is  no  such 
war  as  nations  wage  against  each  other  for  a  balance  of 
power,  or  for  the  adjustment  of  a  boundary.  "We  are  resist- 
ing a  crusade — a  crusade  of  license  against  law — of  infidelity 
against  the  altars  of  the  living  God — of  fanaticism  against, 
a  great  spiritual  trust  committed  to  our  care.  We  are 
warring  with  hordes  of  unprincipled  foreigners,  ignorant 
and  brutal  men,  who,  having  cast  off'  at  home  all  the  re- 
straints of  order  and  of  belief,  have  signalized  their  inarch 
over  our  devoted  country  b}T  burning  the  Churches  of  Christ. 
b}T  defiling  the  altars  upon  which  the  sacrifice  of  the  death 


17 

of  our  Saviour  is  commemorated,  by  violating  our  women, 
by  raising  the  banner  of  servile  insurrection,  by  fanning 
into  fury  the  demoniac  passions  of  the  ignorant  and  the 
vile !  For  active  personal  resistance  to  such  an  invasion 
might  Christ  well  have  fitted  and  prepared  a  servant,  even 
though  that  servant  should  meanwhile  have  worn  the  mitre 
of  a  bishop.  It  is  a  wonderful  coincidence  (to  say  the  least 
of  it)  that  he  who,  in  his  young  manhood,  consecrated  his 
sword  as  an  offering  to  the  Lord,  should,  in  the  ripeness  of 
his  old  age,  have  resumed  that  sword  to  do  the  battles  of 
Religion  and  the  Church  !  Who  knows  the  communings  of 
a  spirit  like  his  with  his  Master?  Up  to  that  moment  he 
bad  commended  himself  to  the  Church  as  a  self-sacrificing, 
self-devoted  servant  and  bishop.  He  had  laid  down  every- 
thing at  the  foot  of  the  Cross.  He  had  stripped  himself 
and  his  family  of  riches  and  of  home.  He  had  wandered 
with  them,  delicately  trained  and  delicately  nurtured,  from 
resting-place  to  resting-place,  until  they  felt  that  they  were 
pilgrims  and  strangers,  and  had*  no  sure  abiding  place.  He 
had  laid  aside,  for  the  Church's  sake,  the  comforts  of  domes- 
tic life — being  separated  for  months  from  wife  and  children — 
until  at  times  he  was,  as  Job  says,  strange  to  them.  He 
had  his  mind,  his  heart,  his  soul  teeming  at  all  times  with 
great  ideas  for  her  advancement  and  glory,  so  that  his  noble, 
generous  soul  was  well-nigh  bursting  with  its  exuberant 
riches;  and  can  you  believe  that  all  this  was  suddenly 
changed'into  a  vain  and  paltry  ambition  of  winning  renown 
upon  the  battle-field  ?  Why,  his  views  were  as  much  above 
all  such  littleness  as  the  heavens  are  above  the  earth ! 

I  speak  what  I  do  know  when  I  affirm  that  the  complex- 
ion which  this  war  was  to  assume  was  known  to  him  long 
before  it  burst  upon  our  country.  We  had  studied  together 
for  years  the  gathering  elements  ;  we  had  analyzed  them  ; 
we  had  seen  in  them  the  ripening  germs  of  irreligion,  of 
unbelief,  of  ungodliness,  of  corruption,  of  cruelty,  of  license, 
which  have  since  distinguished  them,  and  we  came  long 
since  to  the  deliberate  conclusion  that  it  was  a  struggle 
acrainst  which  not  onlv  the  State  but  the  Church  must  do 


IS 

her  utmost.  Not  merely  the  layman,  but  the  priest.  And 
this  conclusion  was  not  confined  to  our  own  breasts.  Others 
of  our  brethren  coincided  with  us  in  our  views,  and  even 
the  gentle,  loving  Cobbs  told  us,  again  and  again,  that  when 
the  moment  came,  old  and  infirm  as  he  was,  he  should 
shoulder  his  musket  and  march  to  the  battle-field !  And 
when  at  last  this  great  responsibility  was  laid  upon  him 
unexpectedly,  it  met  him  in  the  strict  performance  of  his 
duty. 

During  the  first  year  of  the  war,  when  our  armies  were  in 
the. peninsula  of  Virginia,  he  left  his  diocese  upon  an  epis- 
copal visitation  to  the  soldiers  from  Louisiana,  who  then 
thronged  those  armies.  Having  fulfilled  that  mission,  lie 
returned  to  Richmond  just  when  the  Federal  armies  were 
preparing  to  sweep  down  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  and 
blot  out  its  civilization.  A  committee  of  gentlemen  from  that 
valley  was  then  at  Richmond  beseeching  the  President  to 
appoint  some  man  in  whom  the  people  of  that  vast  region 
could  have  confidence,  and. around  whom  they  might  rally 
for  its  defence  and  preservation.  Sidney  Johnston,  upon 
whom  the  President  had  relied  as  the  commander  of  the 
forces  of  the  Southwest,  had  not  yet  arrived  from  California. 
Beauregard  and  Joe  Johnston  were  in  command  in  Virginia. 
Magruder  was  in  the  peninsula.  Jackson  and  the  Hills 
and  Longstreet  had  not  yet  exhibited  their  military  skill, 
and  were*unkuown  in  the  valley  of  the  West.  The  incom- 
parable Lee  was  engaged  in  defending  the  frontiers  of  his 
own  native  state.  Hardee  was  in  the  service  of  the  State 
of  Georgia.  The  emergency  was  great,  for  the  Northwest 
wras  gathering  all  its  clans  to  open  the  course  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, the  point  which  most  nearly  touched  its  interests. 
The  people  of  Mississippi,  Arkansas,  and  Louisiana  were 
clamoring  for  a  leader,  and,  unless  one  was  furnished  them, 
might  abate  their  enthusiasm  and  make  but  faint  resistance 
to  invasion.  At  this  critical  moment  the  President  bethought 
him  of  this  man,  whom  he  remembered  as  a  young  soldier 
of  the  academy,  whom  he  knew  as  a  bishop  of  the  Church, 
whose  lofty  qualities  he  had  marked  all  through  life,  and 


w 

whose  wide  and  commanding  influence  in  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi  he  well  understood  An  unusual  sphere  in 
which  to  seek  for  a  general ;  but,  with  his  usual  promptness 
and  sagacity,  he  marked  his  man,  and  asked  the  commis- 
sioners if  Bishop  Polk  would  meet  the  wishes  of  the  people 
of  the  valley.  The  reply  was  as  prompt  as  the  nomination. 
w'Thq  very  man;  no  one  whom  you  could  name  of  all  at 
your  command,  would  be  so  acceptable."  Then  arose  the 
important  question — "  Can  he  be  persuaded,  in  this  moment 
of  his  country's  peril,  when  all  eyes  are  turned  upon  him, 
and  all  hearts  are  yearning  for  him  ;  when  his  home,  his 
diocese,  his  Church,  the  sheep  entrusted  to  his  keeping  and 
for  whom  Christ  had  died,  are  threatened  not  only  with 
temporal  but  with  spiritual  destruction  ;  when  hordes*  of 
infidel  foreigners,  spawned  upon  our  shores  from  their  hot- 
beds of  infidelity  and  ungodliness,  are  coming  to  preach 
blood  and  license  to  the  slaves  he  was  laboring  to  humanize 
and  christianize  ;  can  he  be  persuaded,  was  the  interesting- 
question,  to  resume  the  sword  which  he  had  laid  in  youth 
upon  the  altar  of  God,  and  use  it  in  their  defence  ?  There 
it  lay,  where  he  had  placed  it  in  the  prime  of  life,  a  virgin 
and  unsullied  sword.  Not  a  stain  had  dimmed  its  bright- 
ness ;  not  a  drop  of  blood  had  ever  marred  its  purity  !  It 
was  consecrated  to  his  Saviour — a  votive  offering  which  he 
had  made  in  the  days  of  his  early  love.  Can  it  be  resumed 
with  honor  to  his  Church — with  safety  to  his  soul  ?  For  vain 
ambition,  no  !  For  worldly  distinction,  no !  For  the  pres- 
ervation of  property,  or  even  life  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, no  !  But  for  the  defence  of  his  Church,  the  spouse 
and  bride  of  Christ,  for  the  purit}'  o.f  the  altars  to  which  he 
'had  been  bound  as  a  sacrifice,  for  the  care  of  the  sheep 
bought  with  Christ's  death  and  committed  to  his  charge, 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  sacred  trust  of  slavery,  yes !— a 
thousand  times  }^es!  That  sword  had  been  laid  upon  that 
altar  for  the_ glory  of  God,  and  for  the  glory  of  God  it  might 
be  resumed,  and  for  the  glory  of  God  it  was  resumed,  and 
has  flashed  with  a  celestial  brightness  in  the  eyes  of  the 
adversary,  dazzling  and  confounding  them.     And  God  has 


'20 

blessed  that  sword  upon  every  occasion  of  its  use.  No 
matter  what  was  the  late  of  the  rest  of  the  army,  wherever 
that  sword  was  wielded,  there  was  victory.  He  never  knew 
a  defeat.  He  never  received  a  wound.  He  moved  unharmed 
through  all  the  perils  of  the  battle-field.  Until  his  work 
was  accomplished  upon  earth  and  God  would  call  him  to 
his  rest,  no  weapon  that  was  directed  against  him  ever 
prospered. 

The  mode  in  which  Bishop  Polk  "accepted  the  responsi- 
bility which  was  laid  upon  him  was  eminently  characteristic 
of  him.  When  he  had  determined  to  assume  the  military 
rank  with  which  the  President  thought  lit  to  invest  him,  he 
wrote  to  me  to  inform  me  of  the  step.  "I  did  not  consult 
you  beforehand  (were  his  words),  for  I  felt  that  it  was  a 
matter  to  be  decided  between  my  Master  and  myself.  I 
knew  how  it  would  startle  the  Church;  how  much  criticism 
and  obloquy  it  might  fetch  down  ;  and  I  determined  that  all 
the  responsibility  should  rest  upon  myself.  When  I  had 
fully  made  up  my  mind  to  the  step,  I  went  to  the  valley 
and  paid  a  visit  to  our  venerable  Father  Meade,  feeling  it 
to  be  mv  duty  to  let  him  know,  as  the  presiding  bishop  of 
our  flock,  what  I  had  determined  upon.  I  told  him  distinctly 
that  I  had  not  come  to  consult  him ;  I  had  come  to  commu- 
nicate a  decision  and  to  ask  his  blessing.  His  answer  was, 
4  Had  you  consulted  me,  I  might  not  have  advised  you  to  as- 
sume the  office  of  a  general;  but  knowing  you  to  be  a  sin- 
cere, earnest,  God-fearing  man,  believing  you  to  have  come 
to  your  decision  after  earnest  prayer  for  light  and  for  di- 
rection, I  will  not  blame  you,  but  will  send  you  to  the  field 
with  my  blessing.'  "  What  our  brother  did  he  always  did 
boldly,  fearlessly,  openly,  in  the  face  of  God  and  of  man. 
The  act  was  always  his  own ;  the  responsibility  he  never 
laid  u|>on  the  shoulders  of  another. 

There  was  in  Bishop  Polk's  character  an  earnestness  of 
purpose  and  a  concentration  of  energy  which  distinguished 
everything  he  did.  Whatever  Christian  work 'he  took  in 
hand,  he  labored  at  it  with  all  his  heart  and  soul.  His  ear- 
ly missionary  work,  his  later  diocesan  supervision,  his  in- 


21 

terest  in  the  advancement  of  the  slave,  hid  grand  univer- 
sity scheme,  his  military  career,  were  all  marked  by  a  like 
intense  devotion  and  absorption.  And  this  characteristic 
of  the  man  caused  him  sometimes  to  be  misunderstood. 
He  appeared  to  be  so  wrapped  up  in  what  he  had  in  hand, 
that  superficial  observers  supposed  him  to  be  neglecting 
concurrent  duties,  and  even  his  own  spiritual  discipline.  But 
never  was  there  a  greater  mistake  in  the  judgment  of  a 
man's  character.  During  his  conception  and  conduct  of 
that  glorious  scheme  of  education  which  will  remain  as 
his  enduring  monument,  I  was  his  chosen  colleague  and 
constant  companion.  For  months  together  we  lived  under 
the  same  roof,  often  occupying  the  same  chamber,  and  in- 
terchanging, as  brothers,  our  thoughts  and  feelings.  Dur- 
ing that  period  of  three  years  he  seemed,  to  those  who  saw 
only  his  outer  life,  to  be  entirely  absorbed  in  the  affairs  of  the 
university — to  have  no  thought  or  care  for  anything  else. 
But  I,  who  was  with  him  in  his  moments  of  retirement  as 
well  as  of  business,  know  better,  and  testify  that  I  do 
know.  At  the  very  time  when  he  was  putting  in  motion 
every  influence  which  might  advance  his  gigantic  enterprise, 
he  was  conducting  a  parish  church  in  the  City  of  ]$Tew  Or- 
leans with  the  entire  love  of  his  people ;  he  was  managing 
a  diocese  which  felt  no  neglect  because  of  his  other  occu- 
pations ;  he  was  keeping  up  a  correspondence  with  literary 
and  scientific  men  coextensive  with  the  limits  of  the 
republic.  His  pen  knew  no  rest.  Midnight  often  found 
him  at  his  desk,  and  early  morning  saw  him  resume  his 
work  with  unflagging  energy.  He  left  nothing  undone  to 
ensure  the  success  of  his  undertaking,  and  his  enthusiasm 
and  self-devotion  were  contagious.  They  spread  to  every 
one  whom  he  approached,  Until  his  impulses  animated  all 
about  him.  Cold  indeed  was  that  nature,  and  selfish  that 
heart,  which  he  could  not  awaken  to  "some  generous  and  lib- 
ex'al  emotions.  Very  fascinating  were  his  manners,  and 
that  not  from  any  art  or  design,  but  from  the  high-toned 
frankness  of  his  nature,  and  the  noble  feelings  which  well- 
ed up  from  his  soul  as  from  a  fountain  of  truth  and  of  purity. 


And  during  all  this  time,  while  lie  was  so  absorbed  in  his 
great  purpose  of  linking  education  to  the  chariot-wheels 
of  the  Church,  he  never  forgot  the  fresh  spring  of  his  con- 
ception, the  author  and  designer^of  his  plan.  God  was  ever 
in  his  thoughts ;  Christ,  the  head  of  the  Church,  was  ever 
upon  his  lips  ;  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  enlightener  of  the  under- 
standing of  men  and  the  controller  of  their  wills,  was  un- 
ceasingly invoked.  Never  was  any  step  taken  in  this  great 
work  which  was  not  preceded  and  accompanied  by  con- 
stant prayer.  Never  was  any  man  approached  whose  co- 
operation was  important,  unless  prayer  preceded  that  ap- 
proach. Every  morning,  ere  he  sallied  forth  upon  his 
work,  was  the  power  of  Christ  called  down  to  bless  and  for- 
ward his  plan.  Never  was  any  enterprise  more  bedewed 
with  the  spirit  of  prayer.  At  -the  same  time  that  he  was 
busy  among  men,  enlisting  the  power  of  the  press,  secur- 
ing the  sympathies  of  the  wise,  opening  the  purses  of  the 
rich,  bringing  into  harmonious  action  minds  and  interests 
of  the  most  diversified  nature — seeming  only  to  be  employ- 
ing  human  means  and  human  appliances — he  was  likewise 
busy  in  his  closet  invoking  upon  these  efforts  the  blessing 
of  the  Most  High. 

And  as  it  was  in  his  connection  with,  his  university  plans, 
so  was  it  likewise  during  his  military  career.  He  entered 
upon  that  with  the  like  concentration  of  energy  and  of  will, 
because  he  believed  it  to  be,  for  the  time,  his  highest  duty 
toward  God  and  his  Church.  The  duties  of  his  episcopal 
office  he  laid  down  during  his  military  career,  in  imitation 
of  his  Master,  who  put  aside  the  glbry  which  he  had  with 
the  Father  ere  the  world  was,  during  his  humiliation  upon 
earth.  For  he  felt  his  change  to  be  an  humiliation — such 
an  humiliation  as  all  God's  children  and  servants  are  forced 
to  pass. through  in  their  discipline  upon  earth.  When  some 
one,  who  did  not  understand  the  spirit  of  his  act,  Avas  foolish 
enough  to  congratulate  him  upon  the  high  honor  which  the 
President  had  conferred  upon  him,  his  indignant  reply  was  : 
"  Honor,  sir !  there  is  no  honor  upon  this  earth  equal  to  the 
honor  of  being. a  Bishop  in  the  Church  of  God."    And  never 


23 

did  he  depart  from  t-bifi  proper  feeling.  He  felt  his  military 
character  to  he  a  burden  to  him,  and  again  and  again,  as 
opportunity  offered,  did  he  pray  to  he  released  from  its 
trammels.  But  the  same  necessity  which  called  for  his  ap- 
pointment required  the  continuance  of  his  services,  and 
our  highest  civil  magistrate,  the  power  which  wc  believe  to 
be  ordained  of  God,  denied  his  request.  At  Harrodsburgh, 
Kentucky,  after  the  bloody  field  of  Perryville,  he  said  to  Dr. 
Quintard,  who  accompanied  him  all  through  that  campaign, 
with  the  deepest  emotion,  "  Oh  !  for  the  days  when  we  went 
up  to  the  House  of  the  Lord  and  compassed  his  altar  with 
the  voice  of  prayer  and  of  thanksgiving  !"  Whenever  it 
was  possible,  during  his  military  career,  he  surrounded  him- 
self with  all  the  appliances  of  his  priestly  office,  and  re- 
joiced in  them  to  the  bottom  of  his  soul.  Two  days  before 
his  death — a  Sunday  of  storm  and  darkness — he  said  to 
one  of  his  aides :  "  Everything  is  dark  in  nature  without, 
but  all  is  -peace  within  this  house.  Call  all  my  military 
family  together,  and  let  us  have  the  precious  service  of  the 
Church."  "And  never,"  said  he,  '-did  I  hear  him  more 
fervent,  or  see  him  more  absorbed."  He  was  being  anoint- 
ed for  his  burial. 

Who  can  estimate  the  influence  of  such  an  act  as  that  of 
our  brother  upon  the  cause  which  is  so  vital  to  everyone  of 
us?  What  could  invent  it  with  a  higher  moral  grandeur 
than  that  a  bishop  of  the  Church  of  God  should  gird  on 
the  sword  to  do  battle  for  it  ?  A  faction  of  the  Northern 
Church  pretended — some  of  them  engaged  in  acts  infinitely 
more  derogatory  to  the  glory  of  Christ's  Church — to  be 
shocked  at  it;  but  it,  nevertheless,  filled  them  with  dismay. 
They  saw  in  it  an  intensity  of  feeling  and  of  purpose  at 
which  they  trembled,  and  wheu  they  found  no  echo  of  their 
pious  horror  from  the  Church  of  England,  they  ceased  their 
idle  clamor.  And  our  brother  thus  became,  before  even 
he  had  drawn  his  sword,  a  tower  of  strength  to  the  Con- 
federacy. And  who  can  say  how  much  of  the  religious 
influence  which  has  diffused  itself  so  remarkably  among 
the  officers  of  the  army  of  the  West  may  not  have  reached 


24 

their  hearts  through  the  silent  power  of  his  example  and 
his  pikers!  Bishop  Polk  did  not  think  the  public  exercise 
of  his  ministry  a  proper  accompaniment  of  his  military  ca- 
reer, and  in  that  I  think  he  acted  most  wisely;  but  his  dig- 
nified and  irreproachable  life  was  a  perpetual  sermon,  and 
his  private  communion  with  God  was  his  spiritual  power. 
It  is  a  very  striking  fact  that  every  officer  of  high  rank  in 
that  army — the  army  which,  in  the  language  of  Gen.  John- 
ston, he  created,  and  had  always  commanded — has  become  a 
professed  disciple  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus ;  and  that 
the  last  act  of  our  warrior-bishop  was  the  admission  into 
the  Church  of  his  Saviour  and  Redeemer,  through  the  holy 
sacrament  of  baptism,  of  two  of  its  most  renowned  com- 
manders. He  lived  long  enough  to  see  Christ  recognized 
in  its  councils  of  war;  and,  his  work  on  earth  being  done, 
he  obe}'ed  the  summons  of  his  Master,  and  passing  away 
from  earth,  his  mantle  rests  upon  it. 

Time  does  not  permit  me  to  enter  into  any  detail  of  his 
long  and  useful  career  as  a  bishop  in  the  Church  of  God. 
That  must  be  left  for  the  biographer,  who  shall,  in  mo- 
ments of  leisure  and  of  peace^  gather  up  the  threads  of  his 
most  eventful  life  and  weave  them  into  a  narrative  which 
shall  be  strange  as.  any  fiction.  The  vicissitudes  of  that 
life  have  been  as  wonderful  as  those  which  have  distin- 
guished the  annals  of  so  many  princely  families  during  the 
last  eighty  years.  Born  to  large  hereditary  estates,  and  in- 
creasing that  fortune  by  intermarriage  with  the  noblewom- 
an whom  he  had  loved  from  boyhood,  and  who  has  cheer- 
fully shared  with  him  all  his  Christian  pilgrimage,  he  has 
died  leaving  his  family  without  any  settled  dwelling-place, 
wanderers  from  the  pleasant  homes  which  knew  their  child- 
hood and  their  youth.  Trained  as  a  man  of  the  world  and 
a  man  of  pleasure,  he  has  lived  a  life  of  almost  entire  self- 
denial,  a'servant  of  servants,  and  has  died  a  bloody  death 
upon  the  battle-field.  Destined,  in  his  own  intention,  to 
mount  to  earthly  glory  by  the  sword  and  his  own  brave  heart, 
he  has  mounted  to  heavenly  glory  by  the  crook  of  the  Shep- 
herd  and    the   humiliation  of  that    heart.     Full  of  heroic 


25 

purposes  as  he  leaped  into  the  arena  of  life—purposes  al- 
ways high  and  noble,  even  when  unsanctifWd — he  has 
been  made,  by  the  overruling  hand  of  God,  to  display  that 
heroism  in  the  fields  which  Christ  his  Master  illustrated, 
teaching  the  ignorant,  enlightening  the  blind,  gathering  to- 
gether the  lost  sheep  of  Israel,  comforting  the  bedside  of 
sickness  and  affliction,  watching  long  days  aud  nights  by 
the  suffering  slave.  Oh !  how  many  records  has  he  left 
with  God  of  heroic  self-devotion,  of  which  the  world  knows 
nothing;  records  made  up  in  silence  and  in  darkness,  when  no 
eye  saw  him  save  the  eye  of  the  Invisible !  The  world  speaks 
of  him  now  as  a  hero  !  He  has  always  been  a  hero ;  and  the 
bloody  fields  which  have  made  him  conspicuous  are  but 
the  outburst  of  the  spirit  which  has  always  distinguished 
him.  Battles  which  he  fought  long  since  with  himself  and 
his  kind ;  which  he  waged  against  the  pomps  and  vanities  of 
the  world  aud  the  pride  of  life  ;  which  he  contested  with 
the  pestilence  that  walketh  in  darkness  and  the  destruction 
that  wasteth  at  noonday — were  far  more  terrific  than  Bel- 
mont, or  Shiloh,  or  Perryville.  These  required  qualities 
which  were  natural  to  him — those  qualities  which  came 
from  the  grace  of  God  and  the  spirit  of  Jesus.  If,  as  the 
wise  man  says,  "  Greater  is  he  that  ruleth  his  spirit  than  he 
that  taketh  a  city,"  then  was  he  truly  great — for  he  had  a 
spirit  hard  to  rule,  and  Christ  gave  him  the  mastery  over  it. 
But  his  work  is  done,  and  now  he  rests  from  his  labors ! 
That  brave  heart  is  quiet  in  the  grave — that  faithful  spirit 
has  returned  to  its  God.  "  The  beauty  of  Israel  is  slain 
upon  the  high  places.  The  mighty  is  fallen  in  the  midst 
of  the  battle.  I  am  distressed  for  thee,  my  brother — very 
pleasant  hast  thou  been  unto  me."  And  thou  hast  come 
to  die  at  my  very  door,  and  to  find  thy  burial  amid  my 
pleasant  places.  "Welcome  in  death,  as  in  life  ;  welcome 
to  thy  grave  as  thou  hast  ever  been  to  my  home  and  to  my 
heart.  Thy  dust  shall  repose  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.  These  solemn  groves  shall  guard  thy 
rest ;  the  glorious  anthems  of  the  City  of  God  shall  roll  over 
thy  grave  a  perpetual  requiem. 


26^ 

And  now,  ye  Christians  of  the  North,  and  especially  ye 
priests  and*  bishops  of  the  Church  who  have  lent  your- 
selves to  the  fanning  of  the  fury  of  this  unjust  and  cruel 
war,  do  I  this  day,  in  the  presence  of  the  body  of  this  my 
murdered  brother,  summon  you  to  meet  us  at  the  judgment- 
seat  of  Christ — that  awful  bar  where  your  brute  force  shall 
avail  you  nothing ;  where  the  multitudes  whom  you  have 
followed  to  do  evil  shall  not  shield  you  from  an  angry  God; 
where  the  vain  excuses  with  which  you  have  varnished  your 
sin  shall  be  scattered  before  the  bright  beams  of  eternal 
truth  and  righteousness.  I  summon  you  to  that  bar  in  the 
name  of  that  sacred  liberty  which  you  have  trampled  under 
foot ;  in  the  name  of  the  glorious  constitution  which  you 
have  destroyed ;  in  the  name  of  our  holy  religion  which  you 
have  profaned  ;  in  the  name  of  the  temples  of  God  which 
you  have  desecrated  ;  in  the  name  of  a  thousand  martyred 
saints  whose  blood  you  have  wantonly  spilled ;  in  the 
name  of  our  Christian  women  whom  you  have  violated ; 
in  the  name  of  our  slaves  whom  you  have  seduced  and 
then  consigned  to  misery;  and  there  I  leave  justice  and 
vengeance  to  God.  The  blood  of  your  brethren  crieth  un- 
to God  from  the  earth,  and  it  will  not  cry  in  vain.  It  has 
entered  into  the  ears  of  the  Lord  God  of  Sabaoth,  and  will 
be  returned  upon  you  in  blood  a  thousand-fold.  May  God 
have  mercy  upon  you  in  that  day  of  solemn  justice  and 
fearful  retribution  ! 

And  now  let  us  commit  his  sacred  dust  to  the  keeping 
of  the  Church  in  the  Confederate  States  until  such  time  as 
his  own  diocese  shall  be  prepared  to  do  him  honor.  That 
day  will  come;  I  see  it  rise  before  me  in  vision,  when  this 
martyred  dust  shall  be  carried  in  triumphal  procession  to 
his  own  beloved  Louisiana,  and  deposited  in  such  a  shrine 
as  a  loving,  mourning  people  shall  prepare  for  him.  And 
he  shall  then  receive  a  prophet's  reward  !  His  works  shall 
rise  up  from  the  ashes  of  the  past  and  attest  his  greatness  ! 
A  diocese  rescued  from  brutal  dominion  by  the  efficacy 
of  his  blood  ! — a  Church  freed  from  pollution  by  the  vigor 
of  his  counsels  ! — a  country  made  independent  through  his 


'11 

devotion  and  self-sacrifice ! — an  university  sending  forth 
streams  of  pure  and  sanctified  learning  from  its  exuberant 
bosom — generations  made  better  and  grander  from  his 
example  and  life,  and  rising  up  and  calling  him  blessed  ! 


At  the  close  of  this  address,  the  coffin,  under  the  escort  of 
the  Silver  Greys,  preceded  by  the  bishops  and  clergy,  was 
carried  to  the  grave  prepared  for  it  in  the  rear  of  the  church, 
immediately  behind  the 'chancel-window,  the  family  and  near 
friends  of  the  departed  accompanying  it.  "While  it  was  made 
ready  to  be  laid  into  the  grave,  the  senior  bishop  pronounced 
the  sentences,  "Man  that  is  born  of  a  woman,"  etc.,  and  the 
form  of  committing  the  body  to  the  ground,  and  the 
sentence,  "I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven."  As  he  uttered 
the  words  "Earth  to  earth,  ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust," 
earth  was  cast  upon  the  body  by  the  Bishops  of  Mississippi 
and  Arkansas,  and  Lieutenant-General  Longstreet,  of  the 
Army  of  Virginia;  and  the  last  military  honors  were  £aid 
by  a  salvo  from  the  battery  of  light  artillery,  stationed  for 
the  purpose,  at  the  foot  of  Washington  street. 

The  Bishop  of  Mississippi  concluded  the  solemn  services 
by  offering  the  "Lord's  Prayer;"  the  first  prayer  in  the 
order  for  the  burial  of  the  dead ;  the  prayer,  "  O  God, 
whose  days  are  without  end;"  the  prayer  for  persons  in 
affliction,  and  the  apostolic  benediction. 


28 


DEATH  OF  LIEUT.-GEN.  LEOKIBAS  POLK. 

The  entire  community  have  been  thrown  into  gloom  by 
the  publicity  of  the  official  announcement  that  Lieytenant- 
General  Leonidas  Polk,  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee,  was 
killed  by  a  cannon-shot,  in  the  early  part  of  Tuesday,  while 
engaged  with  his  associates  in  command  in  making  observa- 
tions at  the  immediate  front. 

Lieutenant-General  Polk  was  born  in  Raleigh,  N".  C,  in 
1806,  from  whence,  at  an  early  age,  he  emigrated  to  Ten- 
nessee, in  which  state  the  greater  portion  of  his  life  was 
spent.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  entered  West  Point  as  a 
cadet,  in  the  same  class  with  Geueral  Albert  Sidney  John- 
ston. "While  at  West  Point,  under  the  teachings  of  Right 
Rev.  Bishop  Mcllvaine,  of  the  Diocese  of  Ohio,  then  chap- 
lain of  the  post,  he  was  received  into  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  by  holy  baptism,  in  the  presence  of  the  whole 
corps  of  cadets. 

He  subsequently  ratified  his  baptismal  vows,  and  was 
confirmed  by  Bishop  Ravenscfoft,  of  the  Diocese  of  North 
Carolina.  He  was  ordained  a  deacon  in  the  Church  by  the 
venerable  Bishop  Moore,  of  Virginia,  in  1830,  and  was  en- 
dowed with  the  priesthood  by  the  imposition  of  the  same 
apostolic  hands  in  1836.  He  was  consecrated  to  the  epis- 
copate in  1838,  and  exercised  his  varied  functions  in  the 
Diocese  of  Louisiana  with  great  credit  to  himself  and  use- 
fulness to  the  Church,  until  the  commencement  of  our 
present  struggle  for  liberty,  when  he  entered  the  field  in 
which  he  was  engaged  at  his  death. 

A  divine  and  chieftain  has  fallen,  and  at  an  inopportune 
hour.  The  Church  will  mourn  the  demise  of  one  of  its 
brightest  ornaments,  while  the  whole  country  sustains  a  loss 
that  can  be  ill  afforded.  But  to  other  pens  we  leave  the 
duty  of  recording  the  virtues  and  services  of  the  deceased. 
His  history  is  that  of  his  Church  and  country,  and  both  will 
acknowledge  his  worth  and  revere  his  memory. — Atlanta 
Appeal.    . 


